Chapter 29. Nevermore

Slade was found a few feet away, sprawled on the dusty ground, unmoving, with teeth marks on his armor. Batman arrived the moment the Titans attempted to remove the villain but after closer inspection, they realized he was wide awake, with a laborious breathing and couldn't speak or move.

When they asked Kid Flash about what happened, he said that out of the rubble, a giant snake coiled around the villain and tried to crush him but something made the snake loosen its hold on him that instead, made a lightning fast move with its head and bit him on the shoulder, crushing his armor before it slowly slider away, letting the body fall while the snake regained her human form only to collapse on the ground, blood quickly staining the dusty terrain.

Raven had tried time and time again to heal Meliah's wounds ever so slowly, as exhausted as she was until Cyborg tried to stop her but against better judgment, she continued until she too fell unconscious on the ground.

Cyborg had assessed their condition and while Meliah was out of danger, still needed medical treatment and Raven just needed to rest . Batman, along with Robin and Starfire, were to take care of Slade and his imprisonment. They also took Red X with them as they had plenty to discuss.

Now Garfield was torn between the two girls. Holding their hands on the way back to the Tower's med bay. Cyborg had admonished him to no end and Starfire had called him selfish before she took off behind the Bat Wing, making him realize the dilemma he had put Raven thru with his words and actions.

Garfield felt bad of course and even though some of that guilt went away the moment she started her healing trance, there was no telling if she would ever forgive him. Meliah on the other hand was still unconscious, healing slowly as time itself allowed. Raven had managed to heal part of the major wounds bringing her vitals down to a stable condition so now all he had to, was wait.

…

…

In Nevemore chaos reigned. And Happy's domain was the first one to crumble. It was no longer bright and sunny but dull and cold. The winds were severe as those of an approaching hurricane, bending trees mercilessly. Colors were almost faded as a shadow advanced slowly, engulfing everything around it.

Happy was laying on her stomach on the floor, pulling the hood over her head, trying to protect herself from the gusts of winds and debris. that's when she heard far away voices calling her name. she tried to look around but had to squint his eyes at the cold wind making her eyes wet and there, in the direction of the entrance to her domain were blurred colors. Yellow, green, purple, blue and even red.

She felt hope at the sight of her sisters for she was closer as well, but a shadow tentacle grabbed onto her foot, keeping her down. Brave charged towards the shadow with a sword of dark energy at hand and attacked the shadow's limp. Brave was agile and fast but the shadow was everywhere and attempted to get a hold of her as well.

"Don't let them get you Brave!" Wisdom, the one in blue, warned.

With one more swing of her sword, Brave managed to free Happy but her sister was weak and stumbled many times before she could no longer get up. The other emotions by the arch over the entrance, made an attempt to go to their rescue, but Wisdom stopped them.

"We must do something Blue, we cant just stand back and watch" said Love, the one in purple.

"I know Love, but Happy is too far gone and Brave needs to return on her own. We cannot allow them to get the rest of us.

"I'll get them back" said Rage who was walking passed them as she spoke but Wisdom grabbed her arm to stop her and ignore the death glare Rage gave her by only touching her.

"You're just as vulnerable as Happy is. If they get to you… or you…" Wisdom said nodding towards Knowledge in yellow. " then they'll get to the rest of us without lifting a finger"

She let go of her sister who was now shocked at the realization of Wisdom's words. She frown and turned back closing her arms over her chest and without anyone looking, her frown turned into a worried expression.

Brave was struggling thru the wind and now rocky terrain, trying to get Happy off the ground, but the more she moved, the more difficult it became.

"Leave me Brave, save yourself and the others, I'm no good anymore"

"Nonsense! Get up, we can make it. Four eyes and Blue will know what to do"

But Happy collapsed once more and was not able to get up again. When Brave came closer she noticed how hurt she really was. Dehydrated and gaunt, dark circles under her eyes, ashen skin and painfully cracked lips. There was no sparkle in her eyes anymore and her breathing was weak regardless of the abundance of air. Brave kneeled next to her and pulled her sister against her chest and turned to the others and sadly shook her head.

At that moment, the gusting winds stopped suddenly and part of the shadows spiral in front of them forming a portal where two more cloaked girls appeared from. The first one was in a dark grey cloak while the other one had a pitch black one.

"why continue to fight sister?… you know its pointless" said Sadness in grey

"You know I will always fight back, no matter what… why are you doing this?"

"And why not.. Raven thinks like we do… we have her full support" said Depression with a smirk.

"Raven is biased thanks to you two and you know she has misunderstood everything but took advantage anyway"

"Think what you like sister, the point is that you and the rest will join us soon" said Depression and with a wave of her hand in a circular motion, commanded the shadows to lift and expand further towards the others. Brave got up, sword ready, but a weak Happy said "Not… if I can help it…"

And with what little energy and power she had, enveloped Brave in a bubble of dark energy and pushed her towards the others by the door and with a last grunt of exertion, pushed them all out of her domain. Once they went thru it, the opening closed into stone and crumbled.

Happy collapsed and the two girls in front of her frowned and said "Fool!, you're just delaying the inevitable. They'll fall … just like you". the girl in front of them then vanished, leaving behind her pink cloak that the wind took away.

…

"HAPPY!" yelled Brave and Love who fell to her knees and started to cry.

"Stop that immediately Love, the faster you give in, the faster they will get to you. C'mon, lets go the library, there's got to be something we can do to protect us" said Knowledge, Wisdom nodded once while she and Brave helped Love to her feet and dried her tears.

"We need to find Raven as well. Those two have her secure somewhere here but while unconscious, she's too vulnerable to defend herself" said Wisdom.

"I told you it was a bad idea to venture out" came a small voice behind them. Timid, in light grey, was hiding behind her hood, almost too afraid to look at her sisters in he eyes.

"Timid!, thank Azar they didn't get to you. Come, we're going to the library" said Brave.

"I rather not. I don't dare to go beyond this point but I ca hide you guys with me and…"

"And then what? Wait until they found us with no way out? And who do you think is going to help us?… no one! While Raven is unconscious we are at their mercy. We must find a way out before they get to the rest of us" said Rage, eyes glowing red causing Timid to shrink into herself.

"So…sorry Red, it was… just a … suggestion"

"Enough! This is not the time to bicker"

"Brave is right, we must go to a safer point where we can find a solution"

"I have an idea. Is risky, but is all we have in this circumstances." said Knowledge before they noticed the shadow approaching their way.

Brave pulled Timid away from its clutches and Rage covered everyone into her dark energy and disappeared right before a giant claw slashed the empty air and dragged into the ground, like a rake pulling leafs, before disappearing into itself and continued advancing.

…

The library was a full size copy of the Parthenon, with tall columns surrounding it and engravings in antique languages adorned the outside of the arch with the inside structure closed in. Perched on the outside of the roof, were the black birds with four red glowing eyes, flapping their wings and desperately saying "Turn back"

Inside was more impressive. Walls and walls full of books, all sizes, all colors, all genres in alphabetical order. They all represent the many books Raven has read in her lifetime and although most of them were complete, some were just a few pages containing the only passages Raven had been interested in reading at the time.

The six emoticlones were scattered around the main room. Timid was sitting on the sofa in the middle while Wisdom levitated in a lotus position next to her, trying to meditate. Brave was leaning against the front desk, lokking around with arms over her chest, bored.

Knowledge was on the magic and spells section while Love was in front of the romance section. The wall was full, from floor to ceiling of romance books, novels, poems, stories from far away places and even tales of happily ever after. Not many but enough to catch Love's attention and curiosity.

Bt when she tried to approach Knowledge, the yellow clad girl dismissed her with a wave of her hand. Love frowned and turned around but found Wisdom in front of her.

"Do not take it personal… she just hasn't met you yet"

"Then would you mind telling me what all… this means" Love said pointing with her hand from floor to ceiling. Wisdom followed the direction of her hand with her eyes then settled back on her sister.

"It just represents what Raven knows about love but in a more… educational way. She knows about it in general. That love exists somewhere"

"But I've been here all along. Since she joined the Titans. Since she met … him" she said with a faint smile.

"Yes, but like with every other emotion, Raven has kept you hidden, away from her…" Wisdom said, nodding towards Knowledge. "Because the moment she acknowledges any of you, will be the moment Raven recognize and accepts that feeling… in your case, it would be accepting the fact that she's in love with him."

Across the room was Rage, in front of the wal that was almost half of the entire building. Containing books and parchments all ages and sizes, from all over the world about demons. Raven's demonic heritage was a big part of who she was.

"Wow Red, it looks like Rae-Rae knows about you more than about anyone else here." said Brave looking at the wall in awe next to a seemingly surprised Rage.

'They're not exactly about me… they're about how to control me". Rage said quietly.

"I got it!" announced Knowledge. The rest gathered around her and waited patiently for her explanation.

"well… what's the solution?" asked Rage impatiently.

"Is not the solution I'm afraid, but rather a step towards it." she said while turning the book around to show the others who gasped at the spell Knowledge was pointing at.

"The transgression spell?… are you out of your mind?" admonished Rage.

"well, technically I cannot be out of…"

"Never mind that four eyes, just tell us your plan" interrupted Brave.

"this book contains the right spell to take care of Sadness and Depression once and for all…"

"But?…"

"But… Raven never read that one in particular, thinking that it would be obsolete with her repressing every one of her emotions so, she only read the title." she said while shuffling a few pages ahead to show the title with no explanation beneath it.

"I see, so you intent to retrieve the original by going outside of the realm?" asked Brave more curious about the mechanics of the plan.

"Yes, but we must act quickly, Raven is after all half human, and a human cannot remain without any emotion for long, otherwise would fall into a state of coma and that would be more difficult to resolve"

"I guess not much difference since she's already unconscious."

"With the difference that we're still awake, if Raven falls into a coma then we will be dormant as well"

"Wait, once outside, will you be able to … perform the spell and get back?" asked Timid from behind Brave.

"I should be able to, although I would not use Raven's powers as much, I will be weak enough as it is. This spell is draining" said the one in yellow, frowning at the pages.

"I wonder…" said Wisdom after a moment.

"Yes? Have you any other ideas?"

"Just a thought. What if you confront Garfield. If he was to tell you about his feelings for Raven, wouldn't that make the spell easier to perform. After all, you will be acknowledging the fact that all of this chaos is unnecessary because he does loves her."

"Oh no… Love is not an intellectual endeavor but about feelings. I would feel much more comfortable if I was to stick to the original plan" Said Knowledge, eyes wide , fidgeting with her glasses.

"Ok, Ok, like I said, it was just a thought"

They all gathered around knowledge who placed the book open on the floor and recited the spell once. The second time all of them were chanting the words and a dark vortex opened next to the girl in yellow. Tendrils of the mass disentangled from the vortex to envelope the girl.

One by one, the shreds covered her every limp and body until she looked like a mummy with grey and black bandages. She started to spin in her spot while the other chanted the spell louder anf with a gust of wind… disappeared.